Alan Corbiere | York University (original) (raw)

Papers by Alan Corbiere

Afterlives of Indigenous Archives: Essays in Honour of the Occom Circle., 2019

This chapter focuses on creating a curricular unit on Anishinaabe ecological knowledge (Ojibwe, O... more This chapter focuses on creating a curricular unit on Anishinaabe ecological knowledge (Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi) using Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language). The curricular unit used two primary sources: Odaawaa stories published in an obsolete orthography and interviews with Anishinaabe speaking craftspeople who still harvest birch bark to make various crafts. The author argues that the old stories codify the ecological knowledge shared by the harvesters. The goal is to create curriculum that is based on Anishinaabe knowledge and delivered in the Anishinaabe language.

Anishinaabewin Niizh, 2011

This paper details place names associated with battles between the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosa... more This paper details place names associated with battles between the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosaunee (Naadwe/ Iroquois/ Six Nations) in Ontario and northern Michigan. The etymology of the Anishinaabe place names are investigated. The story accompanying the name is also provided.

Museum Management and Curatorship, 2022

At a time when museums are expected to address access issues that are the explicit and implicit p... more At a time when museums are expected to address access issues that are the explicit and implicit products of their colonial histories, the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian Institution has focused on on-site and in-person community-led research. In particular, the Community Research Program (CRP) supports projects designed and implemented by Indigenous communities and according to their values and priorities. Through interviews with previous CRP participants, we explore how this approach employs a model where research is conducted in Indigenous languages and methods, and according to community-driven agendas. As a result, this assessment revealed the value of physically 'being present' with and in collections as an unrivaled and integral means for producing, reproducing and reactivating Indigenous knowledge, as well as 'bearing witness' to the historic traumas presented by these objects and, therefore, the power and affect they still hold in the present.

Anishinaabewin Nswi: Deep Roots, New Growth, Proceedings from the multidisciplinary Anishinaabe conference, 2013

This is a biographical sketch of the Odaawaa Chief Mookomaanish (aka Little Knife aka Mokomaunish... more This is a biographical sketch of the Odaawaa Chief Mookomaanish (aka Little Knife aka Mokomaunish aka Pebamitapi). Mookomaanish fought alongside the British during the War of 1812, was a chief of L'Arbre Croche, in upper state Michigan, specifically the village of the Cross (aka Cross Village), and later a chief in Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island. He signed treaties on the American and Canadian side after the war. This paper traces his policies, diplomatic interactions and speeches.

Anishinaabewin Niiwin: Four Winds Rising, 2014

This paper looks at the Anishinaabe use of wampum, paying particular attention to the symbols wov... more This paper looks at the Anishinaabe use of wampum, paying particular attention to the symbols woven onto the belts and the diplomatic metaphors deployed in council with treaty partners.

Museum Anthropology Review, 2016

Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Abor... more Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture) is a worldwide collaborative research consortium composed of indigenous community members, museum professionals, and academic researchers. This article discusses a project that explored the potential of GRASAC’s database to support language revitalization. The authors video recorded interviews with two beadworkers in the Anishinaabe language. Applying andragogy theory to the natural approach to language acquisition, the team processed the video into content rich video clips with a focus on the domain specific vocabulary of beadwork that is relevant to the heritage items in the GRASAC database. The team applied an agency-oriented approach to software development by systematically testing five use cases for uploading the language data into the GRASAC database. The collaborative process revealed unexpected results at the intersection of language and culture revitali...

Papers of the 34th Algonquian Conference, 2003

This paper outlines the varied uses of Ojibwe literacy on Manitoulin Island from 1823 to 1910. A... more This paper outlines the varied uses of Ojibwe literacy on Manitoulin Island from 1823 to 1910. A variety of archival documents reveal that chiefs and chiefs' sons were literate in Ojibwe and wrote to various officials, such as Indian agents, the Governor General, bishops and fellow chiefs in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) revealing that the Anishinaabeg used literacy beyond its prescribed religious purpose.

Museum Anthropology Review, 2016

Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Abor... more Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture) is a worldwide collaborative research consortium composed of indigenous community members, museum professionals, and academic researchers. This article discusses a project that explored the potential of GRASAC's database to support language revitalization. The authors video recorded interviews with two beadworkers in the Anishinaabe language. Applying andragogy theory to the natural approach to language acquisition, the team processed the video into content rich video clips with a focus on the domain specific vocabulary of beadwork that is relevant to the heritage items in the GRASAC database. The team applied an agency-oriented approach to software development by systematically testing five use cases for uploading the language data into the GRASAC database. The collaborative process revealed unexpected results at the intersection of language and culture revitalization, and recommendations for applying new technologies to develop new techniques for promoting indigenous language acquisition.

Various styles of Anishinaabe headgear are discussed and their symbolic meaning explained drawing... more Various styles of Anishinaabe headgear are discussed and their symbolic meaning explained drawing from historic ethnographic, museum, and contemporary elder interviews as sources.

The historic relationship between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg are detailed utilizing sourc... more The historic relationship between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg are detailed utilizing sources from recorded Anishinaabe oral traditions. The Anishinaabeg's understanding of the causes of war are listed, as well as various battles and peace councils.

Books by Alan Corbiere

Before and After the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes , 2013

This chapter ties pictographs, woven, quilled, incised images of thunderbirds and underwater pant... more This chapter ties pictographs, woven, quilled, incised images of thunderbirds and underwater panthers to Anishinaabe narratives to explicate Anishinaabe cosmology and worldview.

Bonnie Devine: The Tecumseh Papers. Exhibition Catalogue, 2014

This essay is a chapter in the exhibit catalogue for Bonnie Devine's exhibit "The Tecumseh Papers... more This essay is a chapter in the exhibit catalogue for Bonnie Devine's exhibit "The Tecumseh Papers" , curated by Srimoyee Mitra, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario. The essay situates Shawnee war chief Tecumseh within the Western Confederacy of Nations allied with Great Britain prior to, and during, the War of 1812. The essay focuses on various wampum belts delivered by the British to the member nations (formerly called tribes) of the Western Confederacy.

Afterlives of Indigenous Archives: Essays in Honour of the Occom Circle., 2019

This chapter focuses on creating a curricular unit on Anishinaabe ecological knowledge (Ojibwe, O... more This chapter focuses on creating a curricular unit on Anishinaabe ecological knowledge (Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi) using Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language). The curricular unit used two primary sources: Odaawaa stories published in an obsolete orthography and interviews with Anishinaabe speaking craftspeople who still harvest birch bark to make various crafts. The author argues that the old stories codify the ecological knowledge shared by the harvesters. The goal is to create curriculum that is based on Anishinaabe knowledge and delivered in the Anishinaabe language.

Anishinaabewin Niizh, 2011

This paper details place names associated with battles between the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosa... more This paper details place names associated with battles between the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosaunee (Naadwe/ Iroquois/ Six Nations) in Ontario and northern Michigan. The etymology of the Anishinaabe place names are investigated. The story accompanying the name is also provided.

Museum Management and Curatorship, 2022

At a time when museums are expected to address access issues that are the explicit and implicit p... more At a time when museums are expected to address access issues that are the explicit and implicit products of their colonial histories, the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian Institution has focused on on-site and in-person community-led research. In particular, the Community Research Program (CRP) supports projects designed and implemented by Indigenous communities and according to their values and priorities. Through interviews with previous CRP participants, we explore how this approach employs a model where research is conducted in Indigenous languages and methods, and according to community-driven agendas. As a result, this assessment revealed the value of physically 'being present' with and in collections as an unrivaled and integral means for producing, reproducing and reactivating Indigenous knowledge, as well as 'bearing witness' to the historic traumas presented by these objects and, therefore, the power and affect they still hold in the present.

Anishinaabewin Nswi: Deep Roots, New Growth, Proceedings from the multidisciplinary Anishinaabe conference, 2013

This is a biographical sketch of the Odaawaa Chief Mookomaanish (aka Little Knife aka Mokomaunish... more This is a biographical sketch of the Odaawaa Chief Mookomaanish (aka Little Knife aka Mokomaunish aka Pebamitapi). Mookomaanish fought alongside the British during the War of 1812, was a chief of L'Arbre Croche, in upper state Michigan, specifically the village of the Cross (aka Cross Village), and later a chief in Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island. He signed treaties on the American and Canadian side after the war. This paper traces his policies, diplomatic interactions and speeches.

Anishinaabewin Niiwin: Four Winds Rising, 2014

This paper looks at the Anishinaabe use of wampum, paying particular attention to the symbols wov... more This paper looks at the Anishinaabe use of wampum, paying particular attention to the symbols woven onto the belts and the diplomatic metaphors deployed in council with treaty partners.

Museum Anthropology Review, 2016

Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Abor... more Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture) is a worldwide collaborative research consortium composed of indigenous community members, museum professionals, and academic researchers. This article discusses a project that explored the potential of GRASAC’s database to support language revitalization. The authors video recorded interviews with two beadworkers in the Anishinaabe language. Applying andragogy theory to the natural approach to language acquisition, the team processed the video into content rich video clips with a focus on the domain specific vocabulary of beadwork that is relevant to the heritage items in the GRASAC database. The team applied an agency-oriented approach to software development by systematically testing five use cases for uploading the language data into the GRASAC database. The collaborative process revealed unexpected results at the intersection of language and culture revitali...

Papers of the 34th Algonquian Conference, 2003

This paper outlines the varied uses of Ojibwe literacy on Manitoulin Island from 1823 to 1910. A... more This paper outlines the varied uses of Ojibwe literacy on Manitoulin Island from 1823 to 1910. A variety of archival documents reveal that chiefs and chiefs' sons were literate in Ojibwe and wrote to various officials, such as Indian agents, the Governor General, bishops and fellow chiefs in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe language) revealing that the Anishinaabeg used literacy beyond its prescribed religious purpose.

Museum Anthropology Review, 2016

Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Abor... more Under the direction of Ruth Phillips, GRASAC (Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Culture) is a worldwide collaborative research consortium composed of indigenous community members, museum professionals, and academic researchers. This article discusses a project that explored the potential of GRASAC's database to support language revitalization. The authors video recorded interviews with two beadworkers in the Anishinaabe language. Applying andragogy theory to the natural approach to language acquisition, the team processed the video into content rich video clips with a focus on the domain specific vocabulary of beadwork that is relevant to the heritage items in the GRASAC database. The team applied an agency-oriented approach to software development by systematically testing five use cases for uploading the language data into the GRASAC database. The collaborative process revealed unexpected results at the intersection of language and culture revitalization, and recommendations for applying new technologies to develop new techniques for promoting indigenous language acquisition.

Various styles of Anishinaabe headgear are discussed and their symbolic meaning explained drawing... more Various styles of Anishinaabe headgear are discussed and their symbolic meaning explained drawing from historic ethnographic, museum, and contemporary elder interviews as sources.

The historic relationship between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg are detailed utilizing sourc... more The historic relationship between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg are detailed utilizing sources from recorded Anishinaabe oral traditions. The Anishinaabeg's understanding of the causes of war are listed, as well as various battles and peace councils.

Before and After the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes , 2013

This chapter ties pictographs, woven, quilled, incised images of thunderbirds and underwater pant... more This chapter ties pictographs, woven, quilled, incised images of thunderbirds and underwater panthers to Anishinaabe narratives to explicate Anishinaabe cosmology and worldview.

Bonnie Devine: The Tecumseh Papers. Exhibition Catalogue, 2014

This essay is a chapter in the exhibit catalogue for Bonnie Devine's exhibit "The Tecumseh Papers... more This essay is a chapter in the exhibit catalogue for Bonnie Devine's exhibit "The Tecumseh Papers" , curated by Srimoyee Mitra, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario. The essay situates Shawnee war chief Tecumseh within the Western Confederacy of Nations allied with Great Britain prior to, and during, the War of 1812. The essay focuses on various wampum belts delivered by the British to the member nations (formerly called tribes) of the Western Confederacy.